Is Hate Speech Constitutional?

In a recent poll, the Gallup Knight Foundation is finding that, “fewer students believe first amendment rights are more secure today than they were a year ago.” This comes during a time where free speech and its limitations are heavily debated. It’s a somewhat grey area where it’s hard to define when certain speech and expression is lawful and wether is it not.

When reading about these recent occurrences of hate speech on the internet I came across this quote. It reads, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This is attributed to, but not written by, Voltaire. It’s implications to social media today are not as direct, and don’t apply as cleanly as they do to physical speech. However, it’s important to dissent, and to have the right to do it openly and honestly. Furthermore, it’s even more important to define what constitutes unlawful speech, and the parameters that govern language today. 

What constitutes hate speech? Can you constitutionally limit what people say? Is it possible to limit and police speech in the era of social media and technology?